Married to Silver Tongue
by Goddess of Manipulation
Summary: Loki, God of Mischief marries Atrin, Goddess of Manipulation; this is there life shortly afterwards.
1. Impatience

"Must we go to this? Haven't I earned some freedom?" I hear from a room over, this not being the first whine I have heard. I sigh as I am adorned with blacks and reds, my maidens rushing about getting my evening dress ready.

"Look, we we're politely invited to go to this. After all the chaos you've caused, I think it's the least that we can do to attend. Besides, you might think it fun."  
I hear a scoff from the other room, followed by a hiss, "I will have my scarf, _thank you_' I try to stifle a laugh, for I know how he hates ties. Saddening, how his servants haven't figured it out yet.  
I was called out of my musings by a seamstress, asking how short the dress was to be. "Mid-thigh, and fringed." She nodded and continued her work. "May I see my wife yet? I do miss her so." I laugh, "Not yet sweetie. You know you must wait until the servants are done." I could hear him rolling his eyes. "Such an impatient king, aren't we."

"Impatient to get this whole affair over with, yes." I stifle my laughter as I put on my dress. Fringed perfectly at the bottom, my signature colors flow around me in beautiful and unusual patterns, my sleeves hanging slightly at the ends of my arms. I thank my maidens, dismiss them, and then saunter over to my mirror. I pick up my kit, open in, and chose my red eye shadow. Why change from such a beautiful color. As I begin to put it on, my husband enters the room stealthily, quickly coming up behind me.  
"You know, for a goddess and a queen, you take your time getting ready." I ignore him and continue to apply make-up. My husband sighs, his tone dripping with impatience. "Look, see you're perfect. May we please go now?"

"Sweetie, I only have one eye done. Relax" I say in the most soothing tone I have, and he walks over to the bed and goes to lie down. "Oh no you don't. Do not muss up you're hair, good sir."

He scowled darkly. "Don't think just because you are a goddess, much less the Goddess of Manipulation, that you can tell me what to do without being punished."

I giggle lightly, placing in my earings "Oh, how sweet thine Silver Tongue sounds when trying to threaten me. We are leaving soon, do not fret, my dearest Loki."

Loki gets up from the bed and walks slowly over to me, offering me his hand. I take it, and he pulls me from my chair, head slowly lowering towards my neck.

"I can make it sweeter, if you like." He kisses me softly, gently biting at me and then licking away the marks. I bite back my desire to simply stay here and push him gently away.

"Later," I stare up into his bright green eyes, and my hand goes to fix a strand of his raven hair that has fallen out of place. He sweetly kisses me and we leave our chambers, heading down out of the palace towards Midgard.


	2. Drunk and Out Of It

We arrived outside Manhattan's Stark Tower, and paused to stare up at it. "Can't we just transport up there? I'm done with walking" Loki mumbles beside me. I sigh deeply and squeeze his hand, letting him know that there would be issues if he tried to run away. "Fine, but let us get inside the elevator first, Okay?" He mumbled his consent and we walked inside, barely glimpsing at the décor.  
As we walked up to the front desk, a familiar voice greeted us. "And you come here for?"  
Loki opens his mouth to speak, and I silence him with my finger. He glared at me threateningly, but stayed silent. "Hello Jarvis. We have arrived at the invitation of Mr. Stark."  
The voice replied swiftly "I will let Mr. Stark know, you may proceed." We walked past the main lobby into Tony's private elevator, which opened as we walked towards it. We walked in, and I hit the button for the top floor. I stepped back beside Loki, waiting to be reprimanded for my actions. He did not disappoint. "Woman, I believe I told you not to tell me what to do," He pulled my loosely hanging hair back sharply until I was looking at his face. I inhaled sharply at the pull. "Did I not?"

I pulled his face close and kissed him. "I am sorry sire. Is there anything I can do to calm my lord before we enter the party?" He smiled, enjoying the moment, and then realized what he was doing.

"You little bitch." He said sweetly, before kissing me a little rougher back, releasing my hair. I smiled against his lips, knowing I had won this battle. I pulled back, turned facing the mirror in the elevator, and quickly fixed my hair. The elevator dinged and came to a halt as I turned and entered the room.

"Brother! Sister!" Thor approached us, crushing us with his embrace. A cry came from the back of the room "HEY IT'S THE NEWLY WEDS!" Tony Stark's came over, wearing a buttoned shirt and nice slacks. His greeting came with a heavy smell of alcohol. "Come on in guys, everything is clean, we swear!" He ran up to a side of Loki and tried to whisper in his ear. "So, have we gotten any yet?" He punched Loki's arm lightly.

"Wouldn't you like to know," Loki snarled. I rolled my eyes. I knew who wouldn't try anything here, at least, not with me right here.

Tony turned to the rest of the group. "HEY GUYS! I THINK I FOUND SOMEONE WHO NEEDS TO GET HAMMERED!" A rallying cry came up from everyone, except Rogers, who simply rolled his eyes. There was obviously some work that had to be done in order to get everyone here ecstatic.

I sat next to Natasha who's black dress, I have to admit, was exceedingly pretty, while Tony was trying to get Loki to taste all of the drinks at the bar. Tony had an idiotic grin on his face, watching Loki take the first shot of what looked like scotch. Natasha turned to me and tapped me with a bottle of vodka. I laughed and politely declined. "Sorry sweetheart, much more of a wine person."

"Did I hear someone say wine?" Clint sauntered over in his usual S.H.E.I.L.D uniform and sat on the other side of Natasha. "Here. Try this. It's Chocolate Wine.' He filled a glass and gave it to me. I sipped it and felt the thick liquid rush down my throat. I closed my eyes and exhaled in gratitude. I let out a chuckle, wondering if everyone was only drunk in order to be able to deal with Loki. I opened my eyes and looked over at the bar, at Loki, who seemed far more relaxed and was laughing with Stark about Gods-Only-Know-What. I walked over to the bar. "Can I get a shot for the gentleman sitting over there?" I pointed to Rogers. Tony laughed, "Good luck with him, we haven't been able to get him to drink all evening." As he was pouring the glass, Loki asked a question that until now I hadn't thought of. "So, where is the monst- doctor?" I inwardly applauded him for correcting himself. I gently placed my hand on the back of his neck, letting him know that his deed did not go unnoticed, nor would it go unrewarded. "Oh, the enormous green rage monster? Yeah, he 'politely' declined and decided to stay in wherever the fuck he is to do whatever the fuck enormous green rage monsters do." This earned a laugh out of my husband, and I walked over to Rogers with drink in hand. I place the scotch on the table beside him.

"It seems to me, you're the only one not having fun at this party. Why is that? Even a _soldier_ needs to drink sometimes," He looked at me, his head tilted slightly to the side. "With all due respect ma'am, nobody _needs_ to drink." I chuckled under my breath. "That is true, but everyone does need to 'let loose' from time to time, and drinking can generally help in that area." I offered him the scotch once more, and this time he took it and sipped. I heard a "WHOOOP" from behind me, and I need not even turn around to know who it was.

The night continued on with little problems. Capsicle, as Tony so charmingly calls him, smashed a few glasses as emphasize on a point on an argument I was not apart of, though this seemed to please the God of Mischief very much. It caused me a little concern, but my own drinks then drowned this concern out. Thor and Loki FINALLY weren't bitching at each other the whole time, which was definitely and improvement. And if you asked anyone there, it almost looked like they were snuggling. "Awww Look at them!" Natasha had said, which then started a little issue that was quickly squandered with more shots and rounds.

At 3, everyone but Tony left, saying their good byes and planning for another one, which was less likely to happen once everyone was sober once again. We waited for everyone else to get into the elevator, and as we we're to go in, Stark stopped us, and signaled for everyone else to go down.

"Alright, don't say anything, but I saved this bottle for you guys." He handed us an empty wine bottle, with a new cork inside. "Don't worry, in like 2 days I will remember what I forgot, and you can come back for the other part of that." He smirked drunkenly. "But for now, I am going to bed," he started stumbling back to his bedroom.

"Goodnight, Tony." I said, as the door to his room slammed.

The elevator opened as we turned, and Loki and I stepped into it. "See, not as bad as you thought it would be," I stated, jabbing his chest. I looked up at his face and what I saw there made me twitch a little. He had a smile that few people see, and those few people are most likely going to hate Loki for a very good reason. He ran his fingers through my dark hair, which had at some point during the night been thrown up into a braid.

"Not at all, Atrin. Not At All."


	3. Insanity Driven

The next day went on without much trouble. Though I do fear that I've turned Loki into some kind of alcoholic beast. I shouldn't have let him taste what it's like to hold such chaos and impairment inside.

A poor guard had unwittingly let an Asgardian out into Midguard, the Asgardian's face and voice changed to almost perfectly match their King's. The guard caught the fool shortly after, but not before my husband noticed his absence from his post. I fear for both of their lives, and anyone who crosses him in even the slightest bit. I will try to lighten their punishment, when such a time has been given.

This night at supper, the entirety of the palace sat around the table, as if nothing had happened just 3 years since. Everyone was drinking and eating their fill, laughing rambunctiously and throwing everything around, as is normal for them. I participate little in this custom, and sit next to Loki in quieter conversation with those around me.

Loki had had several more drinks then he was used to, and had been as loud as the rest. Only once did he stop his bantering and drinking to look at me intently, and took a sip of whatever concoction was in his cup. I turned facing him. "Is there anything my Lord needs of me?" I said with the most restraint voice I could muster, for anything less would have angered Loki in such a way that I fear would not end well for any one: Midgardian or god.

As he put down his drink momentarily, the same face I had seen last night in the elevator grew upon his lips, instilling fear in me that I would not have thought was possible. He then went on with his bickering, acting as though none of this had happened. I looked to my sister next to me, who started mumbling about insanity. I laughed, and continued to eat until no more could enter my mouth without my stomach bursting.

I retired to my chamber, changing out of my dress into my nightwear. I went over to the mirror, undoing the carefully put in braids and put the pins and elastics on my bureau. I looked down into a drawer, pulling out my golden hairbrush. I looked back up into my mirror, but before I could go to brush my hair, a strong hand gripped my own, and an ivory-handled bone-knife was at my throat.

A deep sense of calm fell over me, odd in a situation of such terror, but that is where manipulation works. I tried to turn to see who held the knife, only to have my loosely hanging hair grabbed and pulled up, exposing my neck to the blade. I looked back down into my mirror, and saw Loki behind me, eyes swirling with something I have not seen in his eyes before, nor could I fully identify. I opened my mouth to speak, but the knife got pulled closer to my throat.

"Tsk, tsk," Loki said from behind me. "I don't believe I gave you permission to speak, _Asgardian_," he hissed the last word, sending a shiver down my spine. Where was he going with this?

The knife got bitterly cold as it began to slowly trail down to the collar of my silk shirt. I became terrified, and put us much power behind my words as possible. "Loki, plea-" I stopped short, my terror intensified by a million. I had no power to put behind my words. Loki's laugh echoed behind me, and the knife trailed down to the first button.

"Whom do you belong to?" Loki hissed in my ear.

"You," I held my breath and the first button popped. _Loki, what are you doing?_ I made a silent plea out to him, trying to think of a way beyond this insanity.

He chuckled softly and bit my ear. I inhaled sharply, and fought the urge to fight my way out of his grasp. Bone knives can cut through cement as if it was butter, and so I would rather not find out what it does to even a god's flesh. "Who is your king?" he whispered in my ear, and I felt the second button come off.

Anger surged through me as I replied "Odin," only to regret it as he grabbed my hair tighter and pulled my head back until I couldn't breath.

"Who… Is… Your… King?" with every forceful word, another button came undone. I barely choked out my answer.

"You are my king." And he released my neck back a little and I inhaled deeply. The scent of liquor and sweat coming off of him had permeated the air. He bit my neck, a scream escaping my lips, which only encouraged him to bite harder, until I could feel the blood running down my neck. "Loki, please. What are you doing?" I begged softly.

"Silence, you mewling quim." he breathed into my ear. "I am not done with you." The knife slowly started to trail along my stomach.

"Who made you who you are, my dear?" When I did not answer immediately, he restated his question. "Who made you a god?" I gulped audibly, and barely whispered my answer.

"You." With this he threw me onto the bed, my shirt now appearing to be a very low cut v-neck, my bra partially showing underneath. I watched Loki as he climbed on top of me, kneeling so each leg was on either side of me. I went to go push him off, and he barely budged. I stared at him in terror as I realized what he had done; he had stripped me of everything. I was as powerless and as weak as a Midgardian.

He laughed, his voice dripping with insanity, and something even more destructive than chaos. He grabbed my wrists and held them above my head, pinning them to the board. An intense cold burned at my wrists, and I realized he had frozen my hands to the bed. My eyes searched his once more for any glimpse beyond his madness, but I found nothing. He bent down and kissed me roughly, rougher than he ever had before, his hands entwining themselves in my hair. I tried to struggle out of his grasp, but he pulled my hair so I was staring him directly in the eyes.

"Don't you love me?" he asked infuriated. I looked him dead in the eye. I tried to look confident, but I could feel tears welling up.

"I love the man I could call my king. I can never love the monster who would strip his wife of her powers and try to take her unwillingly." He stared at me for several moments, then sat up suddenly, blinking. His eyes started to clear back to their brighter emerald color. He stared at the knife on the ground, and my hands still frozen to the bed-board. The ice started to melt, as he got up quickly. I laid as still as I could, taking my hands down and trying to rub some feeling back into my cold wrists.

He looked at me, tears streaming down his face. "I… I'm…" he grabbed his head and started pacing. I stared at him, and no matter how much I wanted to forgive him, I felt a sudden hatred growing in my stare. He looked back at me. "What have I done?" he whispered softly. "Atrin…"

"Loki, please leave." He looked at me distraughtly, then headed towards the door. As he opened it, he looked back at me, and I felt a familiar warmth form. My godliness returned, I once again looked back at him. "Leave." I said forcefully, and he listened without complaint. I fell back against my pillow, and stared up at the ceiling, listening to muffled sobs coming from the other room.


	4. Secrets and Confessions

I woke up the next morning, and sat up from beneath my covers and stretched. I felt a cool puff of air hit my chest, causing me to shiver. I looked down at my torn shirt, the memory of last night rushing back into my brain. I sat silently for a few more moments, letting everything sink in again, rethinking everything. What had I seen in his eyes last night?

I got out of bed, rubbing my eyes, and headed towards my bureau. As I opened them back up, I saw four roses sitting on the top. I gasped softly, taking my hands up to my face. One red and black one stood alone, strong and beautiful, its colors radiating. A little while down, saw a slightly duller similarly colored one, and directly next to it a green and gold rose, just as bold and strong as the first red and black. And farther down the dresser, at the very edge, there was one dying, wilting rose, the green and gold fading into nothing.

I felt a tear running down my cheek, and I brushed it off. It was a beautiful display, and quite possibly the least subtle thing I had ever seen. I knew it was an apology, and a plea for forgiveness, but I wasn't ready to just forgive and forget that easily. Mostly because the situation is more serious than to be easily solved by roses, which I believe is well known by both parties. And partially because I have this little voice in the back of my head called my experience, and it was saying that this could be useful later on if I hold a grudge.

I stripped myself of my nightwear and stepped into the shower, melting away some of the left over outright hatred that my heart was heavy with. I got out, dried my hair, and wrapped myself with a towel. To soothe my nerves, I peeked out of the bathroom door to check the vacancy of the room. Satisfied that is was void of any enchantments, people, or magic of any kind, I stepped out. I walked over to my bedroom door, and turned the lock, waiting for the solid click. In spite of my belief in his apology, I quickly sealed the door completely off with an enchantment. I sighed, and walked back to get dressed. As I finished lacing the top of my flowing gown, I heard a knock on my door. I looked outside, and saw the sun had risen a little over the horizon, signaling that I was about to be late for morning meal. As I walked to the door, my makeup appeared and my hair fell into a wavy, well placed half up ponytail. I disenchanted the door, slowly undid the lock, and opened the door to my husband's face. He stood awkwardly in the doorway, with eyes that were rimmed red and swollen slightly from crying looking down at the floor.

"Would my queen like to be escorted to morning meal?" his had his fingers half intertwined, which I knew from being with him long enough that that was his subconscious signal of his distress. It crossed my brain for a brief second that it wasn't such a subconscious signal as it was what he did if he were trying to manipulate someone, but I dismissed this thought almost immediately after. I know when someone is trying to manipulate me immediately, for trying to manipulate me is like trying to lie to Loki; it will never go unnoticed.

I took his face and gently turned it until he was looking at me. I left my hand there for a few seconds more before retracting it. His eyes held my gaze for a few seconds more before his eye fell to the floor once again. I sighed inwardly at his despair, for even if he did deserve every second of it, he wore it on his face like an innocent child, which touched my heart. He straightened his posture slightly and held out his arm to me. I took it, and together we walked down into the hall.

I wanted to kiss my husband, but I didn't trust him. And hopefully, I think he understood. We walked into the main hall, most of the others already there. Thor greeted me with what was supposed to be a pat on the back, but actually knocked the wind out of me. Sif came over and greeted me in her normal, regal way, and then lead me away from Loki and to my spot next to her.

"Okay, so I need to know something." She said mock seriously. "What happened last night?"

My breathing stopped slowly. Did she know something? Does everyone know what happened? I contained my discomfort with effort. "What do you mean?"

Sif rolled her eyes. "Between you and me, I'm a warrior. And more so, I'm a woman. I can tell when something's up, and you two walking together that close seemed a little…" she searched for the right word. "Forced. So what happened? Does it have something to do with why Loki was getting roses from the palace garden this morning?"

I let out a minor sigh of relief. This was based on why he was getting roses, nothing more. Sif was trying to get me out of comfort so she could acquire even deeper information. A good battle tactic, something I should have expected from her. She is our best warrior after all. I smirked, and found myself slipping into a habit and skill of mine that my husband helped me fine tune. Lying.

"It was just a sweet gesture. Nothing wrong with that, is it warrior?" She looked at me skeptically. I am the goddess of manipulation, which does require lying. But when not trying to manipulate anyone… my tongue is quite a bit less than silver.

"Loki, being sweet for the sake of being sweet. Without trying to get anything out of it. If that were to happen I would execute myself." I laughed, being caught in a lie. At the least, she did not take offense to it. Sif is an amazing warrior and a trustworthy friend, but she can take offense to things that could insult her intelligence in anyway. Something that, while I admire it, can turn against me.

"Fine. To simply state it, Loki and I got into a bit of a quarrel last night, and that was his way of trying to make up for it. Nothing serious." She stared at me for a few moments, and then seemed satisfied with my answer. She looked over at Thor and nodded slightly. I laughed at this. Were they all seriously concerned because Loki gathered roses? Though if it took this to make him gather roses, I suppose they should be.

The food came out and the boisterous arguing and drinking began almost immediately. I looked over at Loki, hoping that he wouldn't be drinking again. To my great pleasure, he was not, but was staring at the ale with pain in his eyes. His eyes started to cloud up slightly again, fear pulling my heart to a stop. I gently touched his arm, and he jumped slightly. I looked up at him desperately, pleading with him silently. Loki closed his eyes and shook his head, and when he opened them the cloudiness was gone. He continued to eat his food in a strained manner, until he excused himself without much note and left the hall.

Sif looked at me, clearly biting back some sort of retort. I was a queen, after all, so there was a little respect there. Not a lot, for I wasn't known for overreacting to the slightest insult, but enough to keep her from outright sarcasm. She didn't need to say anything; though her eyes said everything. _Just a little quarrel, nothing to worry about? You're story seems to have a Loki shaped hole in it._ I know she was right, but I couldn't tell her. She would have Loki's head if she found out what he had done, and Loki had been through and put them through enough that I didn't need to add my own personal problems to the list of resentment between everyone.

I waited for the rest of the company to be done before I left for the weaponry. I had always found an out lit in dueling. I preferred a sword, not necessarily the doubled bladed one like Sif's, but a simple long blade. I had one in particular that I used, and Sif had said that it had claimed me as it's own. Sif had said its name was "Edes Halal" or "Sweet Death." It's a beautiful name for a beautiful sword. Not that anyone has met there end at the edge of this sword; at least, not by my hand. I don't know what others have held this sword, or if any ever had. The beauty of creations is that you don't know the past of them, but you can make their futures.

I took a few practice jabs at one of the sitting dummies, but no satisfaction came of that. I needed adrenaline pumping, mind scrambling fight to take my mind off of last night. Something that would threaten my life so that I could push past everything else and just let my instincts take over. I could feel heat rushing to my face as I continued to attack the dummy, every second of last night replaying in my mind. Emotions spilling over, working through the haze of hate and fear and trying to find a way out of my own mind. I was so caught up in my fighting, that when someone made the wooden floor creek behind me, I freaked out, spun around and put my sword to their neck.

Who I saw behind me was an old friend who's paths hadn't crossed mine in quite a long time. Diviana stood behind me, hands up in an "I surrender" position, hazel eyes widened with fear. Slowly, she pushed the blade down away from her, staring into my eyes as she went. Her eyes held no judgment, but knowledge, for she knew me to well and could guess why I had worked myself up so much. She didn't know any exact details, but she has known me for a very long time.

"So," she said when the blade was well away from her. "Want to tell me what's going on?"

"What do you mean?" It had come out a little more aggressively than I had meant it to. She had been my friend before I was in any position of power, let alone a goddess, and she had always been there. She had almost seemed to thrive off of my bitching about my life, as if it gave her some sort of internal peace to help. She had said it gave her something to "pretend to be concerned about". She always had a way of letting things run off of her, never retaining hate or anger. That just added to my own anger. I was beyond pissed, and with adrenaline seeping through my veins, pushing the anger further, I didn't care that she had always been there to help. "Why would you even care?"

She did not look taken aback by this at all. She was used to my fits, even if this one was a little more fueled with hate. "Every Goddess needn't use her abilities all of the time. Even one who's powers are as simple as mine." She chuckled slightly. "Being able to be indifferent about things does not mean I do not care about the mental state of my queen," she stated, eyes staring hardly at me. Then, her eyes softened slightly. "And, my friend." She said.

I stared at her intently. "Do you really feel the need to distinguish the fact that I am your friend?" Anger surged through me, and for some reason the smallest things were setting me off. I looked down at my sword hanging loosely by my side, not being able to meet her gaze; whether that was out of shame or something else, I couldn't tell.

She put her hand on my shoulder. "No. But I would hope it would show that my loyalty goes beyond just being under your reign." I looked back up into her face, and when I saw the kindness, my drive of anchor in anger melted and I fell on my knees, sobbing.

She lifted me to my feet gently and guided me out of the weaponry and, using vacant servant passages, led me to her room. She sat me on her bed, and sat beside me, her arm pulled around me.

"So, are you going to tell me what happened, or do you need to cry for a little bit?" Her tone was sweet, which made me cry even more. I was mad at myself for crying. I was supposed to be a strong leader, a goddess, a queen. I needed to be strong, but something about for once receiving pity from someone who wasn't going to murder someone made something inside of me break down a little bit.

I cried for a solid five minutes before I could even breathe enough to pick up my head and look at my friend's face. "You better now?" she asked, her arm squeezing me against her. I nodded and let out a shaky breath.

"It's just…" I have never been good at telling people my emotions when they are real. It has and always will be a pain for me to do. But I had trusted Diviana before any of this surreality came to be, and she had never betrayed that trust.

I spilled to her the entire story, every detail, every feeling, every word. Down to the hate I felt and, beyond my better judgment, Loki's clouded eyes. She sat there and listened to the entire story, never interrupting once. Then at the end she just wrapped both of her arms around me and held me for a long time, letting me cry the rest of the tears I had been holding back since last night.


End file.
